The Voluntary Environmental Program projectThe Voluntary Environmental Program project investigates an emerging trend of governance arrangements that aim to improve their participants’ environmental performance without the traditional force of law. It examines the conditions for the successful implementation of such arrangements and questions how they relate to and interact with existing environmental legislation.

Examples of Voluntary Environmental Programs are green building rating tools, forest management schemes, and packaging waste agreements. Such arrangements are considered promising alternatives or compliments to existing environmental legislation. However, current theorizing falls short to sufficiently explain what forms of Voluntary Environmental Governance may be successful in what contextual settings.

The research will generate empirical advances and theoretical innovation through the comparative study of various examples of Voluntary Environmental Programs in different countries. This will provide an improved knowledge base for the development of informed and effective forms of Voluntary Environmental Programs to supplement existing environmental legislation.

The research program is based within the Regulatory Institutions Network (RegNet) at the Australian National University, and the Amsterdam Law School at the University of Amsterdam.